The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has launched an enforcement investigation into Western Union Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd and The Western Union Company over concerns about the company's management of high-risk payment channels, customers and affiliates. AUSTRAC said it will decide what action to take, if any, only once the investigation is complete.
AUSTRAC Chief Executive Brendan Thomas said Western Union operates one of the world's largest international payment service providers.
"Western Union provides important services to customers in Australia and around the world who need to move money across borders, including via cash payments," Mr Thomas said.
"Payment service providers are internationally recognised as high-risk for criminal exploitation. We have launched this investigation because we have serious concerns that Western Union has failed to adequately manage those risks."
AUSTRAC said it opened the investigation after weighing a range of factors, including its data and intelligence holdings, prior regulatory engagements with the business, and an external audit of Western Union that the regulator ordered in 2025.
Under Australia's AML/CTF Act, businesses providing international payment services must implement effective programs to identify, manage and mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing risks, and must report suspicious activity to AUSTRAC.
The regulator noted that its 2025 supervisory campaign into payment providers identified significant weaknesses in how some businesses detected and managed transactions linked to child sexual exploitation.
AUSTRAC also acknowledged that Western Union has committed to addressing the issues raised in the audit report. The regulator clarified that the matter is not an investigation into affiliates.
